Angelus held Willow by the throat and gently kissed her cheek, licking it where the shattered pieces of the Orb of Thessala had cut her. He inhaled Willow's scent and his eyes threatened to glaze over.
"Five years and you're still a turn on." Angelus said wistfully.
"I can kill you. You know I can." Willow growled.
Angelus chuckled, "Oh Willow, Willow, Willow. I know you CAN, but I also know you WON'T. See the thing is this. Even though I'm the bad guy here, I still look like one of your friends. Kill me and Angel has NO chance of ever coming back. That means the Powers That Be have no Champion. That means that a lot of things here in L.A. are going to go really badly when there's no "broody defender of puppies and all things good". People will die and the world may end when one of those damned Apocalypses that seem to pop up from time to time comes to pass. And let's face it, these losers need Angel."
Angelus surveyed the room. It had been SO easy. Gunn had been the closest to him when he exited the basement. He was an accomplished fighter, who had learned many techniques in both street fighting and martial arts over the years. The only problem was that he had learned them from Angel. The master beat the pupil in record time only to avoid a force blast from Willow. If that had hit Angelus, it would have probably given them the opportunity they needed to take him down. Willow didn't get another chance as Angelus moved in and hit her about as hard as he could, right in the ribs. He chuckled when she gripped her side and gasped for air. A little nudge and she fell right over.
Lorne fell next. He had fired his crossbow at Angelus. Not really much of a threat when an experienced vampire can pick an arrow right out of the air. Lorne was knocked over the Hyperion Hotel's front desk and into blissful unconsciousness a split second later. Angelus did feel some pain when Wesley shot him with his revolvers. He actually fell to his knees and then rolled to avoid the other bullets being fired. Angelus was fast but he wasn't faster than a bullet. He was however fast enough to keep Wes from getting a bead on him.
Angelus had smirked and forced him to follow him around the hotel's lobby with the guns, firing away until he came face to face with Fred. Wesley had then cursed himself for being drawn into the ploy. He couldn't fire with Fred in the way and the girl couldn't move fast enough to escape Angelus's clutches. Some quick banter later, Wes had slid his guns over for fear of Angelus ripping Fred's head off. Angelus then picked up one of the revolvers and clubbed Fred with the handle. Angelus then fired a bullet into Wesley just to show him how being shot felt. He hadn't killed him though. No, Angelus wanted to torture all of them before they died. It was sort of his thing. He then simply walked over to Willow who was beginning to recover and wrapped her in a tight embrace that was part loving, part pain. The revolver was additionally pointed to her head.
"Maybe you haven't heard since you've been buried in Angel's head for the last few years. I'm different. I'm perfectly willing to incinerate you where you stand." Willow said defiantly.
"Yeah, I had heard that you went a little overboard. I was disappointed actually. I wanted to steal your innocence myself, but oh well, beggars can't be choosers." Angelus said nibbling her ear.
"You want to beg? Alright, you can start by licking my boots before I flay your skin off of your body." Willow growled in anger and humiliation.
"Sorry baby, but I like to be in charge. And sorry, still not feeling very threatened by you. You might be willing to kill me, but I'm not so sure you could do it before I pull this little trigger and…well you of all people know about what happens to a girl when she gets shot don't you?" Angelus said pressing the gun into her temple, hard.
"But you see Will; I don't want to kill you. At least not that way. I want to do it the fun way. I want to turn you. I saw what that alternate universe version of you was like a few years ago, and I really enjoyed it. All that leather, all that bloodlust. She looks like she really knew how to show a guy a good time. She repelled Angel, but me, I dug her. Fact is Willow, I want you. I always have. Maybe that's hard to believe but even Angel thought you could be preferable to Buffy way back when. You at least knew when to shut up. That whole innocence thing was great too. Red is really my color I think. Think about all the things we could do, all the people we could kill. Doesn't even matter that you like girls either. We'll go find Drusilla and you two can have all the fun in the world."
"Angelus? Go to hell." Willow spat.
"Been there, done that. The only thing about you that I don't like is that little tendency of yours to restore my soul. You did it once and you were going to again. Do you know how much of a pet peeve that is? If I would turn you, how could I be safe knowing that you could do that at any time? Let's think." Angelus said grinding into Willow from behind a bit, "Maybe I would have to torture you and all your little friends and break your spirit. A little cutting, a little burning, a little raping. It'll all work out in the end. You'll be as loony as Dru by the time I'm done with you. And totally subservient. All that women's lib stuff will be right out of your system."
"Let her go."
Angelus and Willow looked to the top of the staircase. Doctor Strange stood in front of Cordelia.
"And you are….?" Angelus asked.
"Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme. And behind me is your Beast's Master. At least she was the host of that malignant spirit until I exorcised it and sent it back to the pits where it belongs." Doctor Strange explained as Cordelia stepped up, no longer pregnant.
"Well I guess it's true; cheerleaders are the source of all evil." Angelus mused with a slight hint of disappointment.
"Let Willow go Angelus." Cordelia commanded.
"Gee, now why would I do a silly thing like that?" Angelus said pressing the revolver harder into Willow's temple as his free hand clutched her throat.
"Because you were told to." Doctor Strange answered the vampire.
"Well Doc in case you hadn't noticed I have a hostage at gun point." Angelus smiled.
"No you don't." Doctor Strange smiled.
Angelus looked to his hand which was now empty. Doctor Strange now held the gun in his hand.
"Neat trick David Copperfield, but what are you going to do now? Teleport my hands off?" Angelus said tightening his grip on Willow's throat.
"No. Simply give you your soul back." Doctor Strange said with a smile of his own.
"Oh no, gee Doc don't give me my soul back!" Angelus said in mock fright, "I don't think I could take it, what with all the hours you'll take you to glue the Orb of Thessala back together. I mean I barely sat through Titanic."
"I am a Sorcerer Supreme, Angelus. By title alone that means I am the most skilled mage on this entire plane of existence. Do you really think I need an Orb of Thessala to restore your soul, permenantly?" Doctor Strange asked.
"Permenantly?" Angelus asked warily.
"Yes. I can restore your soul and make sure that the good part in you forever stays in control. No more curse. No more chance of your Id taking control again. You'd have the full range of emotions. Guilt, sadness, even love." Doctor Strange said stepping down the stairs.
"You can't do that." Angelus said nervously, "You don't know what its like to be buried down there. I can watch but I can't act. I'll die before I go back to that! You hear me? You….wait a minute. Oh I see it all now. It's all CRYSTAL CLEAR NOW! You're playing on me psychologically. Trying to make me slip up because you know that I'm afraid of just that one thing. You're just bluffing. If Cordy there was really the Beast's Master, then she did the exact same thing to try and manipulate me. No dice. You lose."
"Do I?" Doctor Strange said raising his hand as it started to glow. White light shout out and sailed through the air striking Angelus in the forehead. He released Willow and fell back screaming in pain. He leaned against the front desk and howled, waking Gunn. His eyes lit up and he stumbled and fell in the middle of the room covering his face.
Doctor Strange immediately began attending to Wesley and Fred, as Cordelia helped hold Willow up. Gunn warily walked around Angelus and walked up to Cordelia.
"What happened?" Gunn asked.
"I was possessed by an evil spirit for the better part of a year." Cordelia replied.
"Huh?" Gunn asked.
"Oooooooh my aching head." Lorne said, sliding up from behind the desk, "How do I look? Did he break one of my horns?"
"Looking good Lorne." Willow said painfully.
"How did he wake up? I thought he was supposed to be out like Faith." Gunn asked, looking at the slumped and silent form of Angelus.
"He was. That thing that's been riding roughshod over my body for the last ten months woke him up. Told Connor to go down and kill him. The thing knew that he'd manage to kill Connor, get free, and eventually kill everyone else in the hotel. If it was going down then it was going to take everyone here with it." Cordelia explained, "Gunn here, take Willow."
Willow shifted her weight and allowed Gunn to keep her upright rather than Cordelia. Cordelia on the other hand walked over to Angelus.
"Cordy, maybe you shouldn't do that." Lorne warned.
Cordelia didn't listen. She merely knelt down beside Angelus and put her hand to his head and ran her hand through his hair. The vampire looked up at her with tears flowing down his face. Cordelia looked into his eyes and ran a hand across his cheek.
"Hey. You back?" Cordelia asked.
"Yeah."
"Good. That makes two of us then." Cordelia said pulling the vampire into an embrace.
"Are Fred and Wesley alright?" Angel asked, sniffling a bit.
"Winifred will be fine; she'll just have a ringing headache when she awakens. Mr. Wyndham-Pryce is injured but I can easily repair the damage and remove the bullet. I'll need some space though." Doctor Strange said looking up.
"Lorne, help him take Wes into my office. Clear all the stuff off my desk and use it." Angel explained.
"Sure thing, and might I say its good to have you back boss." The demon said in response.
"Good to be back." Angel said focusing his gaze on Willow, "Willow, I'm sorry."
"Hey don't let it bother you. Wouldn't be the first time you tried to kill me when you've gone evil. You even killed my fish once." Willow smiled sweetly.
It helped alleviate some of the guilt, but Angel still didn't stand. He just looked at Cordelia for a long, long time.
"I love you." He finally said.
Cordelia embraced him tighter and tearfully kissed him, "I love you too. I never thought I'd get a chance to say that to you. I missed you so much."
Willow frowned inwardly. Part of the reason she had wanted Angel's curse broken was so he could come back to Buffy. Now that it was broken, she saw that Angel had moved on. And with Cordelia of all people! But then again, Cordy had come a long way from the evil, mean spirited, uber-bitch of Sunnydale High. Now she had just been an evil, mean spirited, demon controlling, magick using, uber-bitch. Willow really needed to lie down.
"Cordy?" Angel said breathing in Cordelia's scent.
"Yeah?" she replied with her head resting on his shoulder.
"We're going to have to let Connor and Faith out of my cage. They're probably killing each other." Angel explained.
"Oh God, Connor. What's he going to think? That spirit technically used us to make a vessel for it to enter the world in. What's he going to think when I'm suddenly not pregnant with his child?" Cordelia asked.
Angel sighed.
"This isn't going to be pretty."